NEOWISE, Comet Discovered By JPL In Pasadena, Puts On Spectacular Show Across Northern Hemisphere
PASADENA (CBSLA) — A newly discovered comet is making a spectacle of itself in the skies this month.
NEOWISE is the brightest comet visible from the Northern Hemisphere in a quarter-century. It was discovered by NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer on March 27, and named C/2020 F3 NEOWISE, but is best known by astronomers as NEOWISE. NEOWISE is a project of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena.
The comet has been spotted around the world, and even by astronauts on the International Space Station.
Beautiful Declan Deval image.
— Con Stoitsis (@vivstoitsis) July 12, 2020
Comet Neowise over Stonehenge UK on the 10th. pic.twitter.com/kgKe4E2rFG
Last night's fireworks, for real. Because Science. #NEOWISE #comet pic.twitter.com/IKcJ1wLFAl
— Bob Behnken (@AstroBehnken) July 5, 2020
Comet Neowise visits the Teide Observatory in Tenerife. Image courtesy Marina Pir. pic.twitter.com/LyTYogLAKx
— Con Stoitsis (@vivstoitsis) July 12, 2020
Mt Shasta & #NEOWISE
— Rome Strach (@romn8tr) July 12, 2020
Northern California
Photo by Jesse Smith ???????? pic.twitter.com/OpRnQa1psH
Drove out to shoot comet NEOWISE at 3:30am from Laguna Beach. Here's a quick single shot of it over Orange County pic.twitter.com/cNxxR1PXwq
— Ian Lauer (@ianlauerastro) July 11, 2020
Ok here it is folks. I bring you #cometNEOWISE over the world famous Blackpool Tower, and isn't she a beauty ???????????? #NEOWISE #comet pic.twitter.com/mronwAebCZ
— Stephen Cheatley Photo ???? (@Stephencheatley) July 12, 2020
this morning looking north over Lake Superior as the comet skimmed the horizon a little over 1°, the aurora made a brief appearance #comet #neowise pic.twitter.com/ryKiLsE1SX
— Lake Superior Photo (@LAKSuperiorFoto) July 13, 2020
NASA's Parker Solar Probe's WISPR instrument captured images that more clearly showed the twin tails of the comet. According to NASA, the lower tails of the comet is made up of dust off the surface of the comet's nucleus, while its upper tail is made up of gases that have been ionized by losing electrons in the sun's light.
The comet is currently headed in Earth's direction. NASA says it will be closest to Earth on July 22, when it will pass at a distance of about 64 million miles, and can be easily seen with binoculars. NEOWISE is not expected to revisit Earth for many thousands of years.
For how to best spot NEOWISE, NASA has some skywatching tips.